Afleveringen
-
Encouraging donors to increase their contributions is a delicate endeavor.
This podcast explores several practical and effective tactics to achieve the balance needed to inspire donors to give more generously while maintaining their trust and enthusiasm without alienating or pressuring them.
Tune in now!
-
Did you know that 53% of donors stop giving because they feel unappreciated, and 41% cite lack of acknowledgment or thanks as their reason? Conversely, loyal donors give 42% more over their lifetime and are 70% more likely to leave a planned gift. These numbers underscore the critical need for nonprofits to build and implement a robust stewardship plan. Without it, donors can feel like transactional cash machines rather than valued partners in your mission.
Effective stewardship isnât just about saying thank you; itâs about cultivating meaningful, genuine relationships. When done right, regular donor touchpoints can strengthen connections without becoming intrusive. This requires tailoring the frequency and type of communication you do for each donor level, whether itâs a donor who gives $25, or one giving $50,000.
In the podcast, you'll learn about five stewardship tactics that can transform your donor relationships to create more loyal donors who are excited to give at incrementally higher levels over a longer period of time, no matter what their current giving level.
-
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
-
If you're tired of your board meddling in the daily operations of your nonprofit . . . this podcast is for you!
-
Nonprofit boards play a critical role in guiding the organizations they serve, helping steer decisions, ensuring fiscal health, and offering strategic oversight. However, one glaring issue thatâs often swept under the rug is the lack of prompt responses to communications from executive directors and staff.
Emails and important requests from staff frequently go unanswered or receive delayed responses from board members. This behavior, while common, is not only disrespectful but also sends a clear and damaging message to the very people who keep the organization running day in and day out.
Staff members work tirelessly, often way beyond regular business hours and sometimes on weekends and holidays, sacrificing personal time and energy for the cause. When their emails are met with silence, it signals that their time, effort, and contributions arenât valued and appreciated. And worse yet, that they arenât valued and appreciated.
Board members are in positions of authority, and their actionsâor lack thereofâcan have lasting consequences on staff morale, organizational efficiency, and overall culture. Itâs time to address this problem head-on. Nonprofit executives may not always feel empowered to confront this issue, but they shouldnât have to. Rather, itâs the boardâs responsibility to hold its members accountable for this type of behavior.
Listen in and learn why board members should respond promptly to staff communications, and three steps they can take to ensure they do so . . .
-
Plan Early for a Stress-Free, High-Impact Session
Planning a strategic session for your nonprofit can be one of the most impactful moments of the yearâa chance to reset, strategize, and inspire your team. But letâs be honest: waiting until the last minute to plan such an important event can lead to unnecessary stress, limited options, and a lackluster experience.
On the flip side, planning early opens doors to creativity, thoughtful preparation, and the opportunity to create a transformative experience for everyone involved. This podcast explores explore why planning early is not just a good idea but a game-changer.
And if youâre ready to commit to early planning, I provide some actionable steps to set yourself up for success. So grab a latte and listen in . . .
-
Have you ever sat through a board retreat and thought, âWhat a waste of time!â Youâre squished in a windowless room, squirming in a chair that feels like granite, and longing for the next break. Worse yet, the facilitator is boring, the content is useless, board members are texting, and the food is stale!
If youâre in the process of planning a retreat, donât settle! Itâs possible to put together an amazing day thatâs engaging, meaningful, memorable, and fun. All it takes is a little planning and ingenuity.
Listen in to the following checklist to make sure you have all the essential elements in place to ensure the retreat is a resounding success.
-
In the world of nonprofit fundraising, meeting with a donor for coffee (or any in-person meeting), whether they are a potential supporter or a current contributor, is one of the most crucial interactions youâll have.
This isnât just a casual coffee chat; itâs a pivotal meeting that can define a donorâs impression of you, your organization, and may determine whether they make moderate gift, a significant one, or none at all. The stakes are high and coming prepared can greatly increase the likelihood youâll leave with a smile and the outcome you desired.
To learn more about how to raise money in face-to-face settings, listen in!
-
In today's rapidly changing world, clinging to the traditional five-year strategic plan is not just outdatedâit's impractical. Organizations need to adapt quickly to survive, and a long-term plan often becomes a liability and burden rather than a guide and roadmap. Instead, a one-year strategic plan, monitored monthly and updated annually, proves to be a far more effective and cost-efficient approach to planning.
To learn more, listen in!
-
Tactics for Building a "Value Network" for your Nonprofit
The nonprofit world is a quirky one. Many nonprofits are founded by passionate people with little or no nonprofit experience. Many board members have little or no nonprofit experiÂence, and many staff members have little or no nonprofit or business experience.
The result is often a lot of wasted time and effort. Mistakes are made, resources are poorly allocated, and problems are ignored. People get involved and things get done, but no one is sure what should be done, how it should be done, or who should be responsible to do what.
A nonprofit can avoid many of these common pitfalls by building a "value network.â A value network is nothing more than a network of people, organizations, and resources that can help a nonÂprofit run more efficiently and effectivelyâand build capacityâby providing information, knowledge, skills, experience, influence, and money.
This podcast will help your board and team build its value network and increase the organization's impact along the way.
-
Here's a list of 7 uncommon factors to look for!
Strategic planning is the backbone of any successful nonprofit organization, providing a roadmap for future growth and impact. However, navigating the strategic planning process can be challenging, requiring skilled guidance to ensure clarity, collaboration, and actionable outcomes.
When seeking to hire the best strategic planning facilitator for your nonprofit, there are several key factors to consider. Here are seven essential (but uncommon) considerations for CEOs and Board Chairs to keep in mind when searching âNear Meâ for the best facilitator to lead their strategic planning sessions.
-
Hosting a strategic planning session can be costly and time-consuming. You can spend hours and hours trying to find a suitable venue, hire caterers, organize pre-work, and wrangle all the attendees. But often times, the biggest cost is the one you spend on hiring the facilitator.
Then, the big day arrives. Everyone is prepared and excited to roll up their sleeves, grapple with pressing issues, and create a roadmap for the future. They have high expectations the day will be a huge success and that the facilitator will be outstanding.
But when the day turns out to be a huge belly flop because the facilitator was a huge dud that wasted everyoneâs time and the organizationâs money, it can make the organization be wary of ever hiring another facilitator.
Therefore, when hiring a strategic planning facilitator, it's crucial to be cautious and thorough to avoid falling victim to ineffective facilitators who overpromise and underdeliver. Listen in to these ten things to look out for the next time youâre scouting for a facilitator:
-
Next Level Donor Relations â Make Their Experience âUnexpectedly Pleasurable!â
In todayâs fundraising world, with dozens of nonprofits competing for donorsâ hearts and wallets, itâs important to stand out and differentiate. Otherwise, no matter how noble your mission, youâll be left with your hand out as other fundraisers hit their goals.
To inspire donor generosity and loyalty year after year, you must stop sending stale thank-you letters and having hollow donor experiences, and start thinking of creative ways to go above and beyond to provide donor service and experiences that are âunexpectedlyâ pleasurable and memorable.
Listen in to hear 16 uncommon and practical donor relations tactics that will delight and surprise your donors.
-
Movies and Sound
Imagine watching a movie like Star Wars, Jaws, or Top Gun with no sound. They would be dry, listless, and yes, dull. In many movies, the sound makes the movie. It elicits emotional responses that can lift us up, make us cry, and give us goosebumps. Some music scores are so meaningful to us, they stir up emotions and memories decades after watching the movies. Think of movies like âThe Sound of Music,â âTitanic,â and âThe Good, Bad, and the Ugly.â
As a fundraiser, I recently came to heightened realization just how important sound is in our efforts to raise money. When reading a brochure or an appeal letter, there is no sound; itâs like watching a silent movie. The emotional power of the stories and information is weak. Yes, writing powerful and compelling stories can emotionally inspire donors, but not as well as telling those stories out loud.
Give Me Goosebumps
Telling stories and sharing information out loudâin personâbrings stories alive. Imagine reading a scene from Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, or the shower scene in Hitchcockâs Psycho versus watching those scenes with sound. Reading the scenes may elicit an emotional response, but watching these movie scenes and hearing the sound effects, music scores, and peopleâs voices can transport our thoughts and emotions to unimaginable places.
The sounds in movies ignite all areas of our brains. The tone of a Darth Vaderâs voice or the whizzing of Starfighter causes our brains to start pumping out dopamine, adrenaline, and a host of other chemical reactions that move us, compel us, and emotionally connect us. The same happens when we watch powerful videos with sound.
This is why itâs important to tell your stories colorfully when talking with donors and giving talks about your organization and the work you do. To do this, we need to use descriptive words that paint vivid pictures, tell touching stories, and vary your tone, pitch, and cadence of your speech.
Tune in to learn more
-
Have you ever sat through a board retreat and thought, âWhat a waste of time!â Youâre squished in a windowless room, squirming in a chair that feels like granite, and longing for the next break. Worse yet, the facilitator is boring, the content is useless, board members are texting, and the food is stale!
If youâre in the process of planning a retreat, donât settle! Itâs possible to put together an amazing day thatâs engaging, meaningful, memorable, and fun. All it takes is a little planning and ingenuity.
Listen in and use the following checklist to make sure you have all the essential elements in place to ensure the retreat is a resounding success.
-
Have you ever sat through a board retreat and spent more time watching the clock, daydreaming, and checking texts than listening to the facilitator? Are your board members cringing at the thought of attending another retreat?
Did your last facilitator stand behind a lectern and drone on like a record playing in slow motion? Were they unengaging? Was the content dull and irrelevant? Did the outcomes of the day grow stale and ultimately have little impact on your board?
If you answered âyesâ to any of these questions, itâs time to find a new facilitator. But how do you choose? Listen in to this checklist of attributes you can use when scouting for the âbestâ board retreat facilitator.
-
Nonprofits play a critical role in addressing societal issues, but their effectiveness often hinges on the strength of their leadership, especially the board.
One way to enhance the performance of a nonprofitâs board of directors is by organizing retreats. They can improve engagement, performance, governance, fundraising skills, all of which can propel the organization to the next level of impact.
This is all the more reason to hire a high-quality retreat facilitator. And though you may feel itâs risky to hire a facilitator from outside your region, it may also be a game-changer. Sure, itâs nice to keep things local, but sometimes you get what you pay for . . . which, in some cases, can mean mediocre results.
Retreats and planning sessions are too important to skimp on. Listen in and learn seven compelling reasons why you should consider looking beyond your region or state when searching for your next retreat facilitator.
- Laat meer zien
